System and method for simulating discrete financial forecast calculations

1. A method for creating a simulated spreadsheet, said method comprising:

displaying one or more available model spreadsheets in a web browser;

receiving a selection of one or more of the model spreadsheets via the web browser;

accessing a plurality of groups of data associated with the one or more model spreadsheets;

receiving a sequence of processing of the model spreadsheets, the sequence identifying an order the one or more model spreadsheets are to be processed against selected groups of data from the plurality of groups of data;

organizing the sequence in a hierarchy for processing based on the selected groups of data;

iteratively performing steps a)-c) on the organized sequence;

a) obtaining information from the one or more model spreadsheets and the selected groups of data;

b) calculating any calculable information within the stored obtained information by using spreadsheet formula syntax associated with the one or more model spreadsheets;

c) storing the obtained information separately from a simulation spreadsheet template comprising the one or more model spreadsheets and the selected groups of data;

sending a request for a simulated spreadsheet to be rendered in the web browser; and

presenting a summary of the calculated information in the web browser.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtained information comprises input data, formulas, report formats, and model entity data.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the simulated spreadsheet template and the obtained information comprising the input data, the formulas, the report formats, and the model entity data are stored separately in a relational database.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more template selections comprises a plurality of template selections.

5. A system for creating a simulated spreadsheet, the system comprising:

one or more databases;

a display device; and

a server comprising a processor, wherein the processor is programmed to:

display one or more available model spreadsheets in a web browser;

receive a simulated spreadsheet template, the simulation spreadsheet template comprising one or more selections of model spreadsheets and a sequence identifying an order the one or more selections of the model spreadsheets are to be processed against selected groups of data associated with the one or more selections of the model spreadsheets;

organize the sequence in a hierarchy for processing based on the selected groups of data;

iteratively perform steps a)-c) on the organized sequence;

a) obtain information from the one or more model spreadsheets and the selected groups of data;

b) calculate any calculable information within the stored obtained information by using spreadsheet formula syntax associated with the one or more model spreadsheets;

c) storing the obtained information separately from a simulation spreadsheet template comprising the one or more model spreadsheets and the selected groups of data;

send a request for a simulated spreadsheet to be rendered in a web browser; and

present a summary of the calculated information to a user.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more databases comprises a relational database and an online analytical processor database.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further programmed to store the information in the one or more databases in a fact table file format.

8. The system of claim 5 wherein the stored simulation spreadsheet is automatically updated based on the calculated information.

9. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more databases comprises global variables that are independent of any given simulated spreadsheet template and are available to all simulated spreadsheet templates, and wherein the calculatable information is associated with at least one of the global variables, and wherein calculating any calculatable information within the information by using spreadsheet formula syntax comprises updating the at least one of the global variables based on the calculating, and applying the updated one of the global variables to all applicable simulated spreadsheet templates that include calculable information associated with the updated one of the global variables.

10. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable components, the components comprising:

a displaying component for displaying one or more available model spreadsheets in a web browser;

a receiving component for receiving a selection of one or more of the model spreadsheets and a sequence of processing the model spreadsheets, the sequence identifying an order the one or more model spreadsheets are to be processed against selected groups of data associated with from a plurality of selectable groups of data,

an organizing component for organizing the sequence in a hierarchy for processing based on the selected groups of data;

a performing component for iteratively performing steps a)-c) on the organized sequence;

a) obtain information from the one or more model spreadsheets and the selected groups of data;

b) calculate any calculable information within the stored obtained information by using spreadsheet formula syntax associated with the one or more model spreadsheets;

c) storing the obtained information separately from a simulation spreadsheet template comprising the one or more model spreadsheets and the selected groups of data; and

a presentation component for receiving instructions to present a simulated spreadsheet in a web browser and presenting simulated spreadsheet that includes the calculated information to a user in the web browser via a display device.